Opera Scotland

Sadler's Wells Opera

Sadler’s Wells Opera (SWO, renamed English National Opera in 1974) used to tour Scotland on a regular basis, providing local audiences with some memorable performances.

During the war, leading soprano Joan Cross, also the company's manager, took a troupe to a number of factory towns in the North West from the Vic-Wells base in Burnley. It was then that they made their first Scottish visits (to Glasgow and Edinburgh) performing in 1941, 1942 and 1944. The stagings were naturally very limited but by all accounts were well received. In Glasgow in March 1941 Madam Butterfly was played to the sound of the Luftwaffe bombing Clydebank.

After the war, Scots interested in opera were able to attend performances put on by Carl Rosa (seemingly of an increasingly variable standard as touring became more and more expensive), at the Edinburgh Festival, or by some of the amateur companies that flourished in those days. Decision makers in the Arts Council and elsewhere became increasingly aware of the need for subsidy for opera in general, including touring opera in the provinces. After a political and increasingly public dispute, Carl Rosa personnel were almost entirely absorbed by Sadler’s Wells, and Sadler’s Wells was awarded a subsidy on the basis they would have not only a London season but also carry the main responsibility for the provision of opera to the provinces. Two companies were maintained simultaneousky that alternated these functions.

When SWO resumed performances in Scotland in 1957, Dundee and Aberdeen were included, Dundee being dropped from the rota when the King’s Theatre (known at the time as the Gaumont, and used mainly as a cinema) was closed to theatrical use in 1961. For over a decade, SWO continued to pay regular visits to Scotland, but from autumn 1968 their London performances were given in the much larger London Coliseum, and their touring season was limited to the spring, after that London season had ended.

Scottish Opera was going from strength to strength and arguably had a stronger call on the public money available for opera in Scotland. A two week season in Edinburgh in 1972 and a ‘Ring’ cycle in Glasgow in 1976 (‘Scottish’ performances which were held for the first and only time under the name of English National Opera) ended SWO’s Scottish visits. They had performed 465 times to audiences totalling many thousands in the four cities.

Sadler’s Wells Opera has a long and varied history in which Lilian Baylis played a famous part as a manager for many years. Opera was Baylis’s first love, and in 1918 she was instrumental in ensuring that opera was produced not only in English but in a translation that could be heard and understood by the less well off in society. Diction was therefore paramount, as was keen pricing. Over a period of years the company was built up and moved from a point where productions were ‘ramshackle’ to one where they offered satisfying productions on tour across the UK.

OperaScotland is particularly indebted to the erstwhile ENO archivist, Clare Colvin, for her help in ensuring our list of SWO performances in Scotland is accurate. She helped us also with cast lists and various other queries as far as she could. We have sourced information also from reviews, advertisements, programmes and books.

Acknowledgements to English National Opera

Further reading:-

Gilbert, S 2009 Opera for Everybody:the Story of English National Opera Faber & Faber
Schafer, E. 2006 Lilian Baylis:a biography Universiy of Hertfordshire Press/Society for Theatre Research